Real crime action a top draw

Security cameras in Wynberg suburb show how two men started and drove off with a parked bakkie in 20 seconds in broad daylight. Picture YouTube

Security cameras in Wynberg suburb show how two men started and drove off with a parked bakkie in 20 seconds in broad daylight. Picture YouTube

Published Jul 4, 2015

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Cape Town - Thousands of South Africans are turning to YouTube to follow the real-time crimes committed countrywide, mostly captured on security cameras.

One video that had been watched 152 125 times by Friday afternoon even has a narration by the man whose garage security cameras captured the burglars in action.

On June 21, Joburg resident Hans Somsen posted the video showing burglars follow his friend “who came to his house for a party”. He somewhat offensively titled the video “savages attacking our house”.

Five armed men wearing balaclavas and masks are seen entering his garage. Somsen narrates how his “friend and 12-year-old son had to lie down on the ground”.

Somsen relates how the burglars were stopped short when another friend drove into the garage and disturbed them.

“They stole the laptop,” says Somsen as the men leave the garage.

This video was listed on the Popular Right Now – South Africa video channel on YouTube, its 258 391 subscribers.

Another popular YouTube channel, with 4.5 million views, is Crime Watch. It aims to “show you what is happening around your neighbourhood”.

“We hope you are able to learn from these videos and stay safe,” is its mission.

One of its videos posted recently shows two women involved in a laptop theft from a doctor’s surgery in Joburg. Security cameras catch the women entering the doctor’s reception area. One of them distracts the receptionist while the other heads to the waiting area, pretending to read a magazine.

While the first woman continues chatting to the receptionist, the second sneaks into the doctor’s surgery area.

She returns to the waiting room holding a laptop, which she then places into her large handbag. She then makes her way to the first woman and they calmly leave.

Crime Watch videos include a number of smash-and-grabs in Cape Town too, including in the city centre’s Strand and Loop streets. Categories include hijacking and house robberies. It includes videos that show parents using their children to steal cellphones and jewellery.

Also in Cape Town, the Wynberg Residents and Ratepayers Association’s YouTube channel highlights various events in its area, including crimes caught on security cameras.

In one video, two men are shown walking past a bakkie in the Orient Street.

They walk past the bakkie twice before making off with it in 20 seconds, in broad daylight.

Weekend Argus

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